


Unworthy

by AwkwardSilence



Category: Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Soldiers, Demons, Ex-Con OC, F/M, Impaling, Inuyasha-Demon Logic, Naruto-Demon Logic, OC Self-insert, Rehabilitating Criminal OC, Self-Indulgent, So pretty bloody, Stereotypical Naruto Violence, Swearing, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:16:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27929623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardSilence/pseuds/AwkwardSilence
Summary: "I am undeserving of the kindness you have given me. My world was once a dark place, filled with hatred for everything around me. You have given me something to live for - a purpose greater than myself. As long as I draw breath, I will follow you."Hanaru is someone who doesn't belong. A monster... a half demon. The realm of demons and the realm of humans are two separate worlds, but on the rare occurrence that a demon takes the form of a human and falls in love with a human, a half demon is born. A creature doomed to be scorned by both realms, and forced to walk a path of solitude.Hanaru, despite turning to criminal acts to survive in a world that was never kind to her, has been given another chance.(originally on Wattpad and Quotev)
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/OC, Kakashi/OC, Sasuke/OC, Uchiha Sasuke/Original Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

A clear glare was plastered on her face, accompanied with her trademarked annoyed sneer that had her lips curled back to reveal sharpened, extended canines in an unladylike fashion. The old man in front of her looked down with... was that amusement on his features?! She couldn't stand the fact that he knew he had her right where he wanted her, and Hanaru was pissed. The Hokage's office was... well, boring, in her opinion. Not that she had ever been one for material positions, but the space was seriously lacking. That being said, in the moment she was far too pissed to call him on out his minimalist choices.

"Alright old man - spill. Why'd you drag me to your god forsaken ninja village?" she growled lowly, eyes that burned like an amber sun searching his figure for a sign - literally anything that would help her understand his motives, but she would receive no such luck in finding it. Not until he felt like disclosing the information himself.

"I am a Kage, my dear demonic friend." he said after a few moments of antagonizing silence. "And the ninja of Konohagakure have been keeping a close eye on you. You're a wanted person, after all. Theft, treason... murder. These are just some of the things written in the ninja bingo book about you." His tone, though weathered with age, had not lost any of its sharp wit.

Turning her gaze to the window with a rather annoyed 'tch', the Third Hokage watched in amusement as her animal-like appendages revealed her emotions. "Half-demon, gramps. There's a big difference..." she muttered, curbing her sharp tongue while averting her eyes, an air of sheepishness overtaking her as his crows' feet become more prominent from the crinkling of his eyes and his smile. Hiruzen had noticed early on how the young female had hid herself behind a seemingly-impenetrable wall of false-confidence and barbed words, and he remained silent as she almost spaced out for a couple moments, before bright golden eyes turned back to him with a slight growl. "Sides'... anything I've ever done has been an act of self preservation. If you really read everything in my Bingo Book entry, you'd know that."

The third hokage chuckled, though to Hanaru it sounded humorless. "Of course. Hanaru." There was more silence between them, and the half demon flicked her tail in annoyance, her demonic appendages always being far more telling of her emotions than her voice ever let on. If he wasn't going to do or say anything relatively important, then why was she here? The hokage broke the silence once more with a simple question, but one that caused her to stiffly look up at him in surprise. "You are a lost child, are you not?" he asked, a seriousness to his tone that he had yet to introduce to the conversation. His old and knowledgeable eyes looked over the young girl as she seemed to loose her bravado for a moment.

Eyebrows rose at the question, a look of confusion flashing across her face, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. "Yeah, you're going to have to be a little more specific about that..." she mumbled, hiding her confusion with her first defense mechanism - annoyance.

"Stay here, in Konoha, Hanaru." he said suddenly, causing the purple-haired teen to practically stumble backwards in shock. "Too much of your life you have been living on the run, forced to grow up too quickly. Here in the Leaf Village, you would have a chance at a fresh start - a home." Her heart ached at his words with an emptiness that had always filled her until she considered drowning in the emotion. Looking down, she hid these thoughts from his as they reflected in her honey-colored orbs and furrowed brow. She couldn't show weakness to anyone! But... was wanting a home so awful? A place where she could maybe try and be a normal teenager for once?

As much as she wished it to be true, her mind was sharp, and she knew she would never be accepted. "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks." Hanaru finally replied, penetrating the silence with her resolve. "I'm up there pretty high on those wanted lists you were talking about. I think I have a reward for whoever brings my head on a silver platter--letting me stay here for any extended amount of time would just be putting your 'precious Leaf Village' in danger. Besides. Nobody would accept me - not here, not anywhere! You humans will always treat me for what I am. A freak. A monster." She ended her little rant with a growl and a sneer, her lips curling back again. Her tail flicked behind her nervously as her chakra flared in anger, its deadly demonic aura filling the office as she felt the presence of the ANBU waiting outside shift as they waited to burst in on the Hokage's office at any moment. Good... she told herself that she enjoyed the thought that maybe... _she had scared them._

Despite all this, the Third Hokage remained the same - almost as if he had been expecting it, and this continuously ticked her off. What did he know that she didn't? "Well, though I am thankful for you to think of Konoha's safety, this city is not in any danger by accepting another citizen. Besides, you _are_ a wanted criminal. I had you brought as a guest, but if you were to refuse my offer and escorted out of this office as an enemy, well..." he trailed off, leaving her to imagine the rest as her eyes widened.

"Am I... am I being blackmailed into staying in your village?!" she choked, a strangled noise leaving her throat as she tried to comprehend just what was going on.

"More or less."

This... this couldn't be happening! Her brain worked overdrive to try and find a loophole - some way that would have her waltzing back into her life of solitude, but for the life of her, she couldn't do it. His plan was fool proof. Hanging her head in defeat, she growled. "I can't believe I'm doing this..."

"Good! I'm glad we've come to an agreement!" he grinned at her depressed form as he brought his hands together. The purple haired female fell to her knees in shock, knuckles pressing into the ground as Hanaru immediately regretted every decision that brought her to this point. "Granted, you can't be trusted with 100% freedom yet, and I will have you enrolled in our ninja academy - that way a jonin is looking over you at all times."

Her head snapped up. "What?!" Just what had she gotten herself into?

"- and I've had these chakra slips made for you." he said, handing her a Manila folder full of white slips of paper with sealing kanji written on them. "Put them in your pocket and the chakra embedded in them will cloak your demonic tail, like a more permanent version of transformation jutsu. Since this is fairly new in development, the slips are only good for about a month each so don't lose them. They will also only hide one appendage, so you can feel free to use a hat or bandanna to cover your ears." As he talked, it almost sounded like he was speaking in stereo, his voice echoing around her.

Normally, Hanaru might have tried to rip his face off for ordering her around, but since he was one person she actually kind of respected (and there were armed ANBU members just behind the office doors ready to kill her at a moment's notice) the half demon just let him talk and nodded pathetically along with his words. This entire thing was ridiculous!

"Here are the keys to your apartment, and your enrollment papers. You will start your schooling at the academy tomorrow, and during the day, someone will stop by your apartment to drop off your monthly allowance." The Hokage finished up, handing her the last of her items after she had stood up.

"You... you had this all planned out ahead of time, didn't you?" she muttered, eyes narrowing as the old man shrugged and let out a low chuckle.

"A kage never shares his secrets."

Having had enough of a bomb dropped on her for one day, Hanaru turned towards the door with her new belongs and started walking. Just as she was about to reach for the handle, it opened by itself, revealing an ANBU agent, his mask looking down at her menacingly and she glared back at them in response. The Hokage broke her concentration, calling out to her once more; rather than turn to face him, she swiveled her ears back so he knew she was listening.

"And Hanaru? Welcome home."

Her body trembled as the ANBU led her to her new apartment. though whether it was from nerves or excitement, she couldn't tell. The ANBU disappeared in a cloud of smoke without a word, leaving Hanaru to let herself in and set what meager belongings she had (a worn katana, one change of clothes that were currently bloodied, some spare change and gauze) on a chair before walking to the bed, crashing onto its surface on her stomach. Overwhelmed, overloaded, and utterly exhausted, despite her lack of trust in her current situation, it didn't take long for her consciousness to drift off into a dreamless sleep...

* * *

_"Mom - mom!" the little girl called, reaching up for her mother. The kind, gentle woman brought the girl up into her safe, protective arms, and the girl sighed happily._

_"Yes, my little Hana~ what is it you want?" She would give anything for her daughter - she was her pride and joy, and she reminded her so much of her late lover, it sometimes hurt. But she didn't let that get in the way of anything - she loved her little girl unconditionally._

_"Well, it was a question mama." she said, her amber eyes looking up at her, wide and curious. "Is... is it true what the other kids say about me? Am I... a monster?"_

_Her heart froze at the sound of her daughter's voice. Hot tears slowly trailed her face as she brought her daughter's figure closer to her own. The grief she felt for her child overwhelmed her with the force of a tsunami, and Hanaru's golden gaze looked up at her mother in confusion as she felt her mother's trembling arms circle around her. "I-I'm sorry, Hanaru. This is all your mother's fault, you're not a monster..."_

Her mother had always only ever said "I'm sorry." 


	2. Chapter 2

An alarm broke into her consciousness, and a growl left her lips as she slammed her fist into the offensive clock. Delirious and still half asleep, the half demon curled over to the other side, attempting to slip back into her dreams before her heart began to beat rapidly. An unfamiliar room greeted her bleary-golden gaze, and as she sat up with a start, it took a few frantic turns, and a furious fight with the sheets over her form to remind herself of where she was, and what was going on. Panting, the sun's rays kissed her skin from the blinds she hadn't remembered to close the previous evening, beating heart slowing to a normal pace as she got her bearings. Hanaru wasn't used to mundanity, and certainly not a location that made her feel safe enough to think she could _have the option of going back to sleep_. The thought to close the blinds or set an alarm were completely foreign to someone who spent more nights in trees than in shelter, so the fact that she hadn't reached for her wakizashi the moment that an alarm clock had rang was a surprise in itself. Once the initial shock had left her body, muscles still stiff and sore due to the rude and panicked awakening, Hanaru began to sift through and collect her thoughts.

She was in Konaha, blackmailed into joining the Leaf nin's academy, and she figured the Hokage had personally asked someone to set an alarm for her because he _knew_ she wouldn't care if she was late to the academy. A tired sigh left her lips, and despite having experienced the first restful sleep for as long as she could remember, the half demon still felt exhausted. All but giving up on being defiant against the old man, Hanaru allowed herself to slide out of bed, tail curling behind her as a hiss drifted out of her lips--the cool tile was cold against her skin, though the pads of her feet were well-worn and tough, not unlike leather. The best she could do for herself in this situation was to try and lay low until she could think of a way out of this mess, but for all intents and purposes, Hanaru was stuck. It had to have been that little voice in the back of her head that was speaking to her, convincing her to stay. The half demon despised owing anyone debts, and as far as she was concerned, trying to attend the ninja academy was going to be enough payment to the old man so that maybe she wouldn’t have to feel like she lived under his thumb like some sort of tamed beast. Too many people in her life had tried to control her in similar ways for her to feel comfortable in a scenario like this, and thus her walls were put up tightly and securely. She would play along for now.

Whatever this game was, that is.

Pulling herself to the bathroom, Hanaru stared at the face that looked back at her... she looked somehow foreign--almost like an old friend that she hadn't seen in a long time (which was hilarious in its own right, considering her obvious lack of friends). How long had it been since she had gotten to look at her own reflection? Or even longer since she had actually cared about what she looked like? Having no desire to be mistaken for a hobo, a quick trip out of the room had her returning with her wakizashi, and the female scrubbed her face clean of dirt until her skin was raw. Her hair was in need of some help, and with a practiced hand, she used the blade of the short sword to cut an inch off of her bangs and a couple inches off of her ends, purple strands floating to the floor of the bathroom, and collecting in a mess that she told herself she’d clean up later. Her gaze then turned to her outfit—she hadn’t even thought about how dirty it might be, and her eyes narrowed slightly, noting the drying mud and frayed ends, before remembering that there was a chest of drawers back in the bedroom. Returning to the bathroom once again, Hanaru had been surprised to find that the apartment had been pre-stocked with clothes for her to change into, all relatively her size. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the garment before shrugging to herself, exchanging her tattered clothes for a silver high necked top with detachable sleeves. In the mirror she felt she looked thin for her size, though a thick layer of muscle kept her from looking emaciated. That might change in the future if she found meals more regularly than she did in the wild, although retraining herself out of constant "starvation mode" would be its own challenge. Thankfully the sleeves were there to help her cover up her arms—Hanaru had also nearly forgotten about the amount of scars that she had coating each arm from different fights—the pink undertone in her skin brought out by the rippled white markings of wounds both new and old. While on her excursion for new clothes in the bedroom, the purple haired female couldn’t help but notice how other various household items and necessities (including food) had been stocked up in the small apartment, and it made her wonder what the Third would have done if she had legitimately declined his offer.  
  
Shoving the thought to the back of her mind, a light growl left her throat, lips pulling back in a sneer as she pulled out some hair binders. She could spend far too long on “what-ifs” and “could’ve-beens,” and she had no desire to sit and wallow in her mind all day. Tying off the strands of hair that framed her face and naturally lay in front of her shoulders, she nodded at the reflection, before noting her demonic appendages. _That's right, she needed to cover those up, too_. The purple haired female was not usually so forgetful, but for an individual as estranged from society as she was, she had grown complacent with not caring about her appearance, and rarely attempted to fit into society alongside normal people--the few times she bothered were enough to remind her of why she had grown to detest humans... and yet here she was, bowing to their whims. 

Hanaru was much stronger than your average teenager, but a practiced ninja and an ANBU squad at the ready...? She hadn't faced any leaf nin yet in her journeys (that she was aware of) but she wasn't about to find out by doing something so reckless as to try and bust her way out of Konoha. In fact, she had always avoided ninja-heavy villages for that matter, so that she wasn't hunted for her Bingo Book entry, or so that any other bounty on her head would be harder to trace. Still... that nagging, insufferable little voice in the back of her head couldn't help but mention that maybe, just maybe... a part of her really wanted somewhere to belong to. She shook that thought off--where was that damn folder that the Sandaime gave her?

Passing the kitchen table, she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl center-piece, and Hanaru found offending folder she had been given nearby, sifting through Academy entrance papers until she finally pulled out her "ticket to normalcy," and held a slip up to her face - all it looked like was a piece of paper with black ink scrawled all over it. The half demon pursed her lips, tilting her head ever so slightly. Would this... actually work? She was surprised that it didn't burn her hands or something, because the last time she had seen something similar, it had come from a priest's prayer mantras that had burned her skin where they landed, and her eyes narrowed, feeling her back throb at that particular memory. Despite her misgivings, she just put the slip in her pocket and slid back into the bathroom. Sure enough, no matter which way she turned, her tail was nowhere to be seen.

"This is _so_ weird..." she mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing as she jumped a few times. Half of her was thinking she would fall flat on her ass because her balance would be messed up, but (thankfully) she was wrong. Still uncomfortable but deciding nothing could be done about it, Hanaru's gaze was now focused on the black bandanna left on the counter of the bathroom. An eye twitched before she placed the black bandanna on her head and looked to the mirror, her appearance now reflecting a grumpy, oppressed-looking cat. Huffing, the purple haired female took another bite out of her apple and grabbed her katana, strapping it to her back before grabbing her papers and heading out. 

* * *

_'Remember... you have to be nice to people. Don't be an ass. Do_ **not** _be an ass..._ ' became her mantra as she stomped through the town, various civilians doing their best to avoid the dark cloud that was brewing around the half demon. Upon leaving her apartment, it didn't take her long to realize that she was lost. Now, more than before she left, Hanaru was tempted to give up on finding the academy and just hole herself up in her new apartment. Yes, it was important to repay her debts, but having to interact with a bunch of ninja who may or may not become her enemy if any of this shit ever went south? _'No thank you._ ' She had told herself that she should give it the 'college try' for the old man's sake, but, with the time nearing closer and closer to when the school day would actually start, maybe it would be better to just figure out how to repay him some other way. She quite clearly didn't know her way around the village, and it looked like despite all of their foresight, the leaf nin had forgotten to give her a map of Konoha.

Sighing, she threw the core of her apple into the nearest garbage can with accurate precision, before shoving her hands in her pockets and just... walking. She figured she would find something eventually. Her ears were in pain, squashed underneath the bandanna that was tied on her head, but that was nothing. What was contributing most to her frustration, however, was the amount of people and scents that came with being in a well-populated area like this. Rather than being able to pick apart individual scents, they were all amalgamating into a gross mass that was giving her a headache, representing in the form of a throbbing ache closer to the back of her head near her neck. Eyebrows furrowed and her scowl doing enough to send pedestrians scurrying in the opposite direction, she was far too preoccupied in her own brooding and growing headache to notice that she was in a dead-on collision with some academy students (how very convenient). Quite literally. Rounding a corner, she had smelled their presence, but it was already too late, and Hanaru ended up falling back on the pavement, scraping her hands. The immobile wall that she had walked into continued to stand where they had connected, noisily munching on chips as somebody else offered her a hand up.

At first, Hanaru was repulsed - there was no way she would ever accept help from a human! But, remembering her mantra from earlier, and trying to smooth out her ruffled fur (metaphorically, in this case), she hesitantly took the offered hand, and allowed a male wearing fishnets to pull her up.

"Sorry." the larger of the two mumbled, repeatedly stuffing his face as she flinched back from both of them on reflex.

"Ah, no. Don't worry about it." she grumbled, still feeling a little unsettled from her deprived senses, and sharp golden eyes flicked to both males pensively. Honestly, this entire experience was so overwhelming, and even if she would rather die than admit her shortcomings out loud, it showed in her tensed muscles and dilated pupils. Before, she could have pinpointed their presence merely by the sound of their footsteps, but with her ears plastered to her head and muffled by the bandanna, and sense of smell crippled, she felt far too vulnerable.

"Man, how troublesome..." the one who had helped her up sighed, bending over to pick up her academy-entrance papers she hadn't realized she had dropped. "You're going to the academy too? Can't say I've ever seen you around before." He eyed her suspiciously, and despite his lazy first impression, one look into his dark onyx gaze told Hanaru that he was one of those people who was a lot smarter than they ever let on.

"I've been... around..." she snapped, poorly covering for herself before swiping her papers from him. What could she say? She was still working on the whole 'interacting politely with others' thing--it wasn't something that came naturally to her, and after being rather rudely flung into society again, she wouldn't care if she never got it right. People were vicious, and cruel. That was what the world had taught her from a young age--rather than curl in on herself and hide, Hanaru actively chose to be cruel back. She didn't like playing nice, as no one showed her such sympathy save for her mother. 

And that was a whole can of worms.

"Well, you were headed in the wrong direction. Just follow Choji and I." The lazy-yet-not-so-dumb one said, motioning to his friend who was engulfing an entire bag of chips. Raising an eyebrow at the weird characters, Hanaru merely crossed her arms, papers in hand, and nodded. It would be easier to just follow them and not ask questions--she didn't care to get to know them, and it looked like even though the pineapple haired one wanted to, he probably wouldn't try to press for information (that she would never give him anyway). 

"By all means, lead the way." she responded, her eyes narrowing in silent challenge as she and pineapple-hair glared at each other for a moment. The only thing that could be heard was Choji continuously eating for a few moments, before pineapple broke the tension and turned around, continuing in the direction the two boys had been headed. Hanaru walked behind them and with even less vigor (if that was even possible) than the laziest ninja in town. She could have sworn she had heard him mutter something under his breath, but she didn't catch it. Thoroughly irritated at her limited hearing, she ignored the two in front of her, but still followed them in silence, allowing them to lead her to a building which she could only assume was the Ninja Academy.

"Just continue to follow us." Pineapple hair said, looking back at her from the corner of his eye with his hands in his pockets. "Your sheet says we're in the same class."

She grimaced, having hoped to escape their awkward company, but to no such luck. Continuing to follow after them, she sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time before arriving at the classroom. Pineapple hair and Choji walked straight in, but Hanaru hung back for a moment, suddenly feeling even more nervous than earlier. These were her _peers_. People her age. She'd never hung out with anyone the same age as her, much less doing so casually. The purple haired female had been on numerous jobs, and had countless numbers of "partners" whose faces gave way to the endless sea of information she'd dubbed as "useless" and cast off to the wind to be forgotten. These were people that Hiruzen expected her to _bond_ with... to fight beside. To kill for. Her golden gaze dulled to a pale yellow--was that all she would ever be? A tool... an instrument used for murder? If not hired by some warlord, or redlight district thug, then now by a village, and a leader who told her he wanted her to "grow up" here? It was a lot of pressure, and again she began to regret bothering to come to the academy at all. She had grown up an outcast from other children. They had jeered, sneered and alienated her from them, and even when she was six, her earliest memories included her mother and her having to be on the run constantly, both hunted for the notoriety of being the mother of a half demon and said half demon bastard herself. And if not for that... for Hanaru's quickly growing criminal record and notoriety considering neither could find work.

She had been too young, and they had called her mother 'the devil's harlot'. Of course, the purple haired half demon gave them something to remember her by if they said that to her or her mother's face. She was but a child when her claws had first been soaked in blood. And these people could never know--her criminal record was to be known by her superiors and kept secret from her peers, or so her academy papers had said. She supposed it was better if word didn't get out to the civilians that their village was harboring a well-known and wanted criminal. 

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Hanaru once again remembered the words of the Third Hokage from the previous day... he had told her it was a chance to make a new life for herself. The opportunity to change who she was for the better. She buried the urge to scoff at that--an impossible dream from a foolish old man. She would play along with his game, until he inevitably got tired of his little toy half demon and threw her away or tried to have her killed... just like everyone else had done in her past. She simply couldn't handle all this change at one time, and she lacked the trust to completely give in to such a foolish ambition, but somehow she would swallow it. Gripping her fists, she continued to internally struggle between turning tail and going back to her apartment, or simply striding in through the door, until an annoyed sounding cough sounded behind her. Turning and blinking in a blank expression, the purple haired teen saw someone who was even more apathetic than her. His hair drew her attention first, golden eyes flicking up at it--it was oddly shaped and it reminded her of something but she couldn't quite place. As they stared at each other blankly, his slowly turned into a glare.

"You're in my way..." he stated softly, though his voice was probably as low as he could get it to try and seem intimidating (she noted with a mental snicker).

Raising an eyebrow, she sneered at him, curling her lip back slightly. "Of course, your highness..." she said, sidestepping so he could push past her, glaring as he did so. He didn't pay a lick of attention to her after they both walked into the classroom, but it wasn't as if she cared. Turning to the desk at the head, she was greeted by yet another male that set off her nerves, and not in the right ways.

"Ah, so you must be Hanaru..." he said, smiling at her as he took her papers, although the half demon could clearly see through it. She had become quite good at seeing through the faces of deception over the years, considering she had to in order to survive. Reading this man was no different. "I am one of your sensei's, Mizuki. Iruka is taking care of a little... issue, but he'll be here to start class shortly. You may sit wherever you like." He motioned to the half-empty classroom, and she merely nodded, refusing to speak a word as she took a seat at an empty row, next to the window, which ended up being in between the rows where pineapple and Mr. Angsty had seated themselves, feeling Mizuki's eyes follow her the entire way. Refusing the urge to shiver in disgust, Hanaru simply sat back and observed as the class slowly filled up, becoming noisier and noisier. Considering the fact that this 'Iruka' wasn't showing up, when most of the class was present, Mizuki took it upon himself to start the class.

"Alright, everyone, it's time to settle down. Since Iruka is currently preoccupied-" a few students snickered at that, and Hanaru kept herself from raising an eyebrow in confusion. "I'd like to introduce to you a new classmate. Hanaru, please raise your hand." The girl did as she was told, though it was very obvious that she was an outsider here - she didn't need to raise her hand to feel that way.

The attention of the other teens was quickly shifted from her to something else, as two people burst into the room, one tied up and the other one furiously ranting. "Naruto! You can't vandalize the Hokage faces--you're so disrespectful!" Hanaru forced back a snort as the boy now identified as Naruto wriggled like a worm on the ground, yelling incoherent phrases at his sensei, whom she assumed was the missing Iruka. _'Defacing the faces of the town's heroes, huh?'_ This kid was either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. She was inclined to believe the latter.

"Aw, come on, Iruka-sensei!! Untie me already!" the blonde shouted, the angry look on his face shifting to a grin when his teacher finally consented and untied him. He laughed cheekily, muttering something under his breath and Hanaru again cursed the limited hearing she was forced to deal with. There was the familiar puff of smoke from a transformation jutsu, and suddenly in Naruto's place, (luckily) covered in smoke, was a female version of of the blonde. Some of the guys hooted and laughed, while most of the girls looked ready to kill him. Hanaru shook her head and turned to look out the window instead--this place was far too noisy for her liking--in fact, the only good thing about the bandanna and her squashed ears being that it was a dampener against the horrendous ruckus that took place at the front of the class. Would every day be like this? She'd go insane. The young teen zoned out, observing the Academy's courtyard, noting the sole tree and swing. The wind blew the leaves in a curling pattern, and she tried to roll her shoulders back in order to relax, only to finally tune back into the class when there was a collective groan of disappointment from all around. Turning to stand up with the others, she heard something muttered about the classroom involving a surprise transformation jutsu test, and she sighed as well. The one thing that would she would have to watch out for when it came to this new life, was finding herself stuck in a cycle of easy mundanity: there was no room for complacency when it came to her training regimen. To be on the peak of your game was to survive, that was all she had ever known--these kids were soft, as far as she was concerned. 

Standing in line in no particular spot, (because she didn't feel the need to converse with the others to figure out her actual place in line, nor did she feel like sharing her last name) Hanaru waited for her turn silently. Most people turned into either Mizuki or Iruka, and if not them then some attempted (and some failed) animals or their fellow classmates. When it was finally her turn, Iruka's eyes lit up in understanding, but a bit of caution was there as well, and honestly? She couldn't blame him. It wasn't every day that you received word that an infamous criminal was joining your class as a student. 

"A-Ah, Hanaru, I presume? You don't need to do this, since it's your first day-" she cut the teacher off with a wave of her hand.

"It's fine. It doesn't matter." she mumbled, and Iruka blinked before nodding nervously, stepping back to let her preform the justu.

Breathing through a sigh, she could only vaguely recall the hand signs that the other students had used, though it was unnecessary and she hadn't been paying attention. Rather than a two-handed sign, Hanaru only brought up only one hand in the form of the transformation sign. As a half demon, she had a larger pool of chakra to pull from, and she didn't need to channel it through the normal series of hand signs, but she would pretend she had to at least use one hand in front of her peers in an attempt to lower suspicions--even if it was completely asinine. Hanaru hated drawing attention to herself, but she liked it when others knew their place on the power scale. Concentrating her chakra with an inhale, there was a poof of smoke, and standing in front of them was the Third Hokage. A students few gasped, and Mizuki's grin was far too wide as Iruka swallowed heavily. Releasing the disguise, she viewed both teachers with an unimpressed look, a blank glare aimed at them

"Y-You pass. Next." Iruka stuttered, shuffling through the line as Hanaru moved back to her previous spot next to the window, there to zone out until the end of class came about. There was one more thing that Hanaru hadn't yet explained--not even to the Sandaime. For all intents and purposes...

Hanaru was illiterate.

Not proud of this fact, when she was young her mother had tried her best to school her. The purple haired female at least knew how to read numbers, which was important for jobs and counting money, and she knew basic phrases, and how to write her name in kanji, but anything beyond that was above her skill level, which put her in the kindergarten learning level when it came to reading comprehension. She hated this, and usually tried to exercise her skills by reading signs and menus the rare times where she had gone out to eat after a job or some similar fancy occasion, but it was all a joke. Hopefully she'd be able to pass without having to do much, as it was mentioned that they were indeed rather late in their curriculum. Thinking about the soft woman that was her mother was enough to keep Hanaru distracted. Her mother had wished the world of her, even though her wishes were quite impossible, thanks to what Hanaru was. Still, she made sure her daughter was well-educated, and it aided the purple haired youth to become an even more notorious criminal as the years dragged on. Still, just because she might have missed a topic here or there didn't mean she was going to actively pay attention to any of the lessons (and he was basically reading out what he was writing on the board anyway... she hoped).

Eager to be done, Hanaru was quick to stand as students began to file out of the classroom for the day. However... there was a rather excitable roadblock in her way, for as Hanaru turned toward the door she came face to face with the exuberant class clown. "Hey, hey! I've never seen _you_ before, who are you?!" he asked, and an angry tick mark appeared on her face as he practically bounce up and down in excitement.

"I thought proper conduct was introducing yourself first..." she mumbled, meaning to push past him so she could exist anywhere other than here.

"Oh, sorry! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the Hokage one day, _dattebayo_!" the blonde grinned widely, loudly proclaiming his dream as she winced. Even with her ears pinned down, this kid was a loud mouth! She could only imagine the damage his lungs could do to her poor sensitive ears.

"Shut up, Naruto! Can't you see you're bugging my Sasuke!" A pink haired girl Hanaru didn't recognize shouted down at him before she and a group of other prepubescent teen females fawned over one of the annoying males from earlier.

Naruto growled at that and turned to go on a rant about the other boy, so Hanaru took this opportunity to escape. She didn't want to be stuck in the academy any longer than she had to, and luckily for her, she only had to attend class in the mornings (she was specially exempt from their usual Taijutsu training thanks to her rather unfair advantage, and the fear that in sparring she might still try to kill someone). That left the afternoon open to do whatever she wanted, and in this case, she needed to go shopping for new clothes. Leaving the academy gates, she froze in her tracks, suddenly realizing that she blindly followed Mr. Munchy and pineapple head to the academy, and even before that she had been lost. Hanaru had hoped to have been separated from them, so she hadn't paid much attention to her surroundings as they led her to their shared destination; she really didn't have a good grasp of the area at all. This caused a growl to form under her breath--she must have looked like an idiot, standing there in the middle of the street, not knowing where to go. About to take a step forward in any direction, figuring she'd do better to just start walking and figuring she'd find it eventually, she was interrupted by a loud shout from behind her.

"Oi!! You!! Purple-haired girl with a scar like Iruka-sensei, wait up!!!"

Grimacing, she slowly turned around, an unamused look over her features as she frowned, crossing her arms under her chest. "What?" she growled, not in the mood to play 'babysitter'.

"Wow, you're scary!" he said, blinked widely as she looked to him in angry confusion. "So cool! You never told me your name though..." Naruto looked to her pointedly, and she sighed, turning away from him.

"If you had been to class on time, you would have found out that it's Hanaru." she said, looking at him with her amber orbs out of the corner of her eyes.

"Ne, Hanaru!" Her eye twitched at the use of her name in such a happy manner--he was really annoying, especially when she was more of a _'wallow in my own special pity-party'_ kind of person. "You should come to Ichiraku's with me! They have the best food and I think you'll love it, it's great!"

"Actually I don't eat a lo-HOLY!!!" she started to speak, but Naruto wasn't having any of it. Grabbing her wrist, he dragged her along behind him like a kite, leaving her hissing and spitting as he ran, oblivious to her discomfort.

About halfway through their 'run', Hanaru stopped fighting back and accepted her fate. She could have easily ended his life, so what was she doing allowing herself to be dragged around by the blonde-haired idiot? Her eyes trailed to his hand on her wrist and she blinked a few times in surprise. Before, no one would have dared to touch her. Granted, Naruto had no idea that she was a wanted criminal (well, now ex-criminal, really), but still. He had said so himself - she was scary. So why was he still there? Why did he bother? She had no idea.

At the speed they were going, it didn't take them long to reach Naruto's destination, which she was surprised to see a small ramen stand with stools for seats, and an older gentleman who smiled at Naruto when they sat down.

"Hello Naruto - and what a pretty friend you've brought!" She looked away nervously. How many older people in the village knew who she was? She wasn't truly sure if it was just the Jonin and ANBU who knew, or if the Sandaime had sent out some sort of village-wide notice in case she was recognized and reported. Still, the female couldn't help but wonder if he was merely patronizing her or being legitimately kind. "The usual?"

"You got it, Gramps! _Dattebayo_!" Naruto laughed happily, a wide grin on his face as he looked between her and the old man. "And one for my friend, too!"

She almost didn't respond at first, startled at the word. "A-ah, no thanks, I'm good, actually." Normally, she would have stood up after that and left the loud-mouthed boy to his own devices, but that word had her frozen to her seat as the man smiled and went to making Naruto's ramen. She was... his friend? Was it that easy? All they had done was introduce themselves, Hanaru was rude (like normal) and he had dragged her here. That was the entire extent of their relationship, but he... he already considered her his friend? He was stupid, and her thoughts were reflected in her furrowed eyebrows and deep glare.

Naruto, unable to detect her young, mid-life crisis, was served his ramen and began to slurp noisily, downing a bowl in less than a minute. "Hanaru--where are you from?" he asked, amidst stuffing his face, and she sighed.

"A long way from here. It doesn't really matter though. I'm here now, aren't I?" she asked bitterly, her fur easily ruffled when questioned about her past. Naruto paid her rudeness no mind as he received another bowl of ramen and she watched him engulf it with her nose wrinkled in disgust. "How... how can you shovel so much into your body...?!"

"Wha? Oh, I'm just really hungry! I ran out of milk for my cereal the other day, so I didn't have breakfast!" he said, giving her a peace sign as she rolled her eyes. Still, despite herself, she found the corners of her lips twitching up into a smile. Not wanting him to see this, she turned from him. There was something about this complete idiot's carefree-ness that she simply couldn't shake. It was infectious, and it made her nervous. Was her way of thinking always this susceptible to change? Or was she simply more willing to accept it now?

Hanaru would have been lying if she said that she didn't feel a little of the weight taken off of her shoulders now that she had been in Konoha. To have a place that she didn't need to feel constantly on edge. Still, every once and a while throughout the morning, she had felt the presence of an ANBU nearby, but she quickly remembered the Hokage mentioning that they would merely be keeping an eye on her. Honestly it was a lot to take in, so to find that this weird boy her age was actually acting what could be considered 'normal' around her, was... refreshing. Not that she'd ever tell him that though. Honestly, her inner thoughts were never what came out of her mouth.

And she was still a criminal.

Her thoughts darkened at that fact. No matter what she did, she felt the stench of old blood would follow her around like a second shadow. Hanaru wasn't proud of what she had done, but she did what she had to in order to look out for herself. Self preservation. The words almost mocked her now.

"-naru. Hanaru?" the sound of her name almost startled her, but she calmly looked to the blonde haired male beside her so as to not show that he had. "Are you alright? You zoned out there for a moment?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." she muttered simply, the harsh tone returning to her voice. She couldn't let her guard down. No matter what.

"Okay, good! I was just going to ask if you would pay for me!" he said, grinning happily.

At this, Hanaru's eyes did widen, and she looked to him incredulously. "What?! No, I'm not gunna foot your bill, I don't even-!" But before she could finish explaining that she didn't even have a cent on her, the young male was already darting off down the road, calling out to her over his shoulder as he left a cloud of dust in his wake.

"Kay thank you bye Hanaru, I'll make it up to you!"

"That little shit...!" she growled under her breath, standing up and turning to look at the old gentleman. "I'm sorry - I actually don't have any money on me."

"It's okay - I'll put it on his tab." he said, winking at her. Somehow she felt that this so-called 'tab' was already way past it's due date, but she sighed, shaking her head. "Here." she looked up in surprise, seeing him holding a steaming takeout box for her. "You're new, right? I know you said you don't eat much, but but my wife just made some sticky buns, so take some home with you. You can put them in the fridge and heat them up in the oven later."

"Oh... uh... thanks..." she muttered awkwardly, taking them from him and nodding her head. Free food without theft? Now she really thought she was hallucinating. As a half demon, her body didn't usually need the same amount of sustenance as humans, and therefor she could trick her metabolism into starvation mode easily. But she had been living off of so little food for so long that it meant eating had become more like a chore, so she either had a few snacks throughout the day or just one meal, and she hardly ate in front of others. This entire town was crazy, though, and even as she decided it, she was certain that it could grow on her.

Slowly, but it might.

After asking for directions from the Ichiraku's owner, she returned home to find a small ouch of money and a map of Konoha. Placing the sticky buns in the fridge, she took both things and left to buy clothes. Her shopping experience was decently uneventful, except for a few stares and whispers from the village women as she went about her business by herself. As soon as she returned home to her apartment, she chuckled everything on her dresser and fell into the bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm slowly trying to phase out my works on other sites so I can put them here. Hopefully it'll see more traction here than it ever did there, haha.


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